timbo666
Member
Recently I had to come to terms with the fact that I under-estimated my 10x20x10 greenhouse. I directly transplanted (12) 30 day old seedlings (from seed) in standard 5" cube planters to 20gal smart pots. (early june) Within 30 days, they absolutely exploded and we realized we would have to start super cropping and training them hard. We kept trying to make it work - soon enough we came to terms with having to expand. As the end of season is approaching - and everything started pre flowering, we noticed the inside branches were not getting close to enough light penetration and were essentially being choked out. We did not want our yield to suffer, and we needed to allow these ladies to breathe.
A standard 6 foot fence was built around the perimeter for added security before committing to the change. We utilized this, and decided to use it as the main foundation for a hoop house. We used pvc conduit and drilled holes on top of the posts, and connected side to side. we gained over 5 feet of width, and atleast another 5 feet of length. We utilize the entire fence square footage, and the ladies finally are able to breathe!
Here comes the main concern - new greenhouse plastic. There was not a sufficient amount of homework done on what is the best to use before we needed to make a fast decision. We learned fast that that "agriculture / greenhouse" quality grade poly 6 mil plastic needs to generally be ordered online. Nothing like that is sold in the popular home improvement warehouse stores. So we naturally decided to innovate. The only thing available was the construction commercial grade " clear " plastic. If i'm not mistaken - this is made out of polyethylene? The only difference I encountered so far within my research is that everybody says the main difference is the UV protection not being on the commercial stuff, and that it wil brittle over time and only last for one season. This isn't a problem for us, considering we only have about 6-8 weeks left for everything to finish flowering, and it comes down regardless. My main concern is the light transmission. - Will this type of plastic allow enough light inside and penetration for the yield we desire? Will we inevitably see a decrease in potential yields due to the fact that the plastic isnt as " see through"? Here are some side by side comparisons, before and afters.. Any advice on this matter will be greatly appreciated. There generally just seems to be a lack of information out there on what plastic is best to use, etc.
A standard 6 foot fence was built around the perimeter for added security before committing to the change. We utilized this, and decided to use it as the main foundation for a hoop house. We used pvc conduit and drilled holes on top of the posts, and connected side to side. we gained over 5 feet of width, and atleast another 5 feet of length. We utilize the entire fence square footage, and the ladies finally are able to breathe!
Here comes the main concern - new greenhouse plastic. There was not a sufficient amount of homework done on what is the best to use before we needed to make a fast decision. We learned fast that that "agriculture / greenhouse" quality grade poly 6 mil plastic needs to generally be ordered online. Nothing like that is sold in the popular home improvement warehouse stores. So we naturally decided to innovate. The only thing available was the construction commercial grade " clear " plastic. If i'm not mistaken - this is made out of polyethylene? The only difference I encountered so far within my research is that everybody says the main difference is the UV protection not being on the commercial stuff, and that it wil brittle over time and only last for one season. This isn't a problem for us, considering we only have about 6-8 weeks left for everything to finish flowering, and it comes down regardless. My main concern is the light transmission. - Will this type of plastic allow enough light inside and penetration for the yield we desire? Will we inevitably see a decrease in potential yields due to the fact that the plastic isnt as " see through"? Here are some side by side comparisons, before and afters.. Any advice on this matter will be greatly appreciated. There generally just seems to be a lack of information out there on what plastic is best to use, etc.
Attachments
-
206.7 KB Views: 39
-
57.5 KB Views: 38
-
161.8 KB Views: 39
-
178.8 KB Views: 40
-
143.8 KB Views: 44